As Canada’s largest dedicated child- and youth-serving organization, we understand the importance of youth development and creating environments that foster resilience in young people. 

R2 isn’t a program, it’s an approach 

If you’ve seen one Club, you’ve seen one Club. BGC Canada has more than 600 locations across the country, and each operates differently to meet the unique needs of their communities. 

Rather than a program with a structure involving steps, timelines, and activities, R2 is an approach: guiding principles and ways of thinking that inform how Club staff work with youth. Because of this, R2 can be weaved into BGC Club’s existing work with youth—making it flexible for each Club to adapt into their daily operations, whatever that looks like. 

A curriculum specifically designed for BGC Clubs 

We’re thrilled to collaborate with Dr. Michael Ungar and his team at the Resilience Research Centre’s Evaluation and Training Institute to customize an R2 curriculum to support youth who walk through Club doors. 

Social work scholar, family therapist, and global expert on resilience, Dr. Ungar has shifted how we understand the challenges faced by young people—helping us adapt how we approach those at risk of educational disengagement. With his support, we’ve given Club staff practical tools to foster stronger relationships with youth—something BGC Clubs are already great at doing. 

The training session included collaborative, hands-on activities and engaging conversations that linked our impact on the well-being of youth through BGC Canada’s Learning & Impact data. Club staff left the session with tangible resources and tips to help them apply R2 to foster youth resiliency.

We’re grateful for our partnerships with The Keg Spirit Foundation and The McCall MacBain Foundation, who made the resources for this program possible. With their support, BGC Clubs across the country are better equipped to address the mental health needs of their communities. 

By Sam, Former Club Kid & 2021 Youth of the Year

March 21, 2025

Eight years ago, I came out for the first time in a room full of strangers—and they clapped.

It was the first day of BGC Canada’s Get Loud National Youth Forum. I was standing in a room with other Club kids, including 3 of my Club friends. We were reflecting on the activity we had just completed related to understanding the various obstacles someone encounters daily simply because of their identity.

Having related to the activity on a personal level as I was exploring my own identity, I spontaneously decided to share my truth at the time. To this day, I have no idea what compelled me to share, but what matters is that a group of strangers I’d never met made me feel safe enough to do it.

2S & LGBTQIA+ young people need the safe spaces that BGC Clubs provide

Young people in 2S & LGBTQIA+ communities have always needed safe spaces to explore and express their identity, but they need BGC Clubs now more than ever.

“As young people affected by these harmful ideologies, we are concerned, frustrated, and exhausted. No individual should ever have to debate or justify their existence.”

– BGC Canada’s 2023 National Youth Council

BGC Canada’s mission is to provide safe, supportive places for children and youth to experience new opportunities, overcome barriers, and develop skills for life—no matter their background.

RELATED: Young people deserve a safe place to explore and express their identity

The rise in anti-LGBT hate at government levels in the U.S. has been on the rise for the better part of two years. Fear, hatred, and misinformation continue to run rampant among our neighbours, and Canada is not immune. Hate crimes targeting 2S & LGBTQIA+ communities are on the rise in Canada. Now, advocates across the country are worried about increased anti-trans hate making its way across the border.

As a queer and trans person myself, I can tell you that the Canadian youth in these communities are scared, anxious, uncertain, and they need support.

BGC Clubs play a lifelong role in the lives of young people

Clubs across the country are creating positive spaces, relationships, and conversations that encourage all children and youth to be themselves. BGC Cornwall/SDG played an instrumental role in my upbringing, and I can confidently say if it weren’t for the mentors I met (who I still talk to regularly), I wouldn’t be the same person.

Growing up with a single mom, we leaned on the Club for accessible and meaningful after-school programming. In high school, I still leaned on them for academic support, exploring hobbies, having supper every weekday, and having friends to share those experiences with. The skills I learned to accomplish what I did are skills I still apply in my daily life. Every time I go back to my hometown, I always make sure to visit.

BGC has been the most consistent aspect of my life since I was nine. My Club gave me the certainty that no matter what, I had support—something all young people deserve to experience when they need it the most.

Read more:

• BGC Clubs want the best for Canadian kids 
• BGC Clubs are a modern solution to help parents 
• BGC Clubs are a safe ‘third place’  

By Owen Charters, President & CEO, BGC Canada

November 18, 2024

We don’t have to want to get down on the floor and play mini-stick hockey to love kids – and you don’t need to provide shoulder rides for photos. You just have to believe in their possibilities and want to give them their opportunities.

For some reason, the debate about kids – whether we like them, want them, and what we’re supposed to ‘feel’ if we’re a parent are all over the media right now.

Debates about parenting – do you have to like being a parent to be a parent? Do you even need to like kids to be a parent?

My friend from university, who swore she didn’t like kids – ended up as a teacher, and then had three kids of her own that she adores. And my childless friends who love kids, work with kids, and are basically surrogate parents to many kids.

Yet within our Club world, there are so many versions of why we want to work with kids, or at least, for kids.

I have always loved working with kids – trying to figure them out, what makes each one tick, and cherishing the good and the bad ones. (Badly behaved, that is – I really don’t believe there are bad kids.)

Related: BGC Clubs are a modern solution to help parents

A few Club staff have been surprised when I got down on the ground to interact with Club kids, had them climb on me for a photo, engage in a conversation or exchange silly jokes.

Whatever our motivations are for working for kids, it is the spark of joy in their eyes that I believe we each live for, the opening up of ideas, options, and possibilities for them. That’s not just our responsibility as parents, but as Clubs.

BGC Clubs provide opportunities that set young people up for success

• 95% of Club kids have more people they like to spend time with. 
• 92% of Club kids are better at helping out when it is needed. 
• 91% of Club kids are more excited to try new things. 
• 91% of Club kids are more confident in their abilities. 
• 90% of Club kids feel more comfortable being themselves. 
• 90% of Club kids are more aware of the feelings of others. 
• 90% of Club kids are more physically active. 
• 90% of Club kids work better with others. 

We don’t have to want to get down on the floor and play mini-stick hockey to love kids – and you don’t need to provide shoulder rides for photos. You just have to believe in their possibilities and want to give them opportunities.